I Will Never Let You Go Again
by Myra109
Summary: Before Daniel moved away from Philadelphia, he made a mistake, one his old friends haven't forgiven him for. But when Daniel is kidnapped by Herman and his old friends are the only ones who know, Daniel's old friends must find the strength to forgive him and the courage to rescue him. "Daniel, you have to jump. I will catch you and I will never let you go again. I promise." AU


_Hello, everyone! I decided to write a story about some of my OCs, Daniel's old friends from Philadelphia._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

 _This is based heavily off of the rescue scene in Despicable Me. You don't have to watch the movie to understand this, but for those of you that have seen that movie, you will recognize it. I just love that scene so much, so I had to write this story._

* * *

 _"Call my name, and I'll come running. 'Cause I just need some help."_

Daniel listened to the song Help by Hurts play on repeat for hours before he found the strength to pick up his cell phone.

Daniel took a shaky breath as he stared at Emmet's contact, and he finally gathered the courage to press call and hold the phone beside his ear.

"Hello?" Emmet asked.

"Emmet," Daniel said to his old friend- his honorary older brother, actually- from Philadelphia.

There was a long stretch of silence.

"Daniel," Emmet replied, bitterness leaking into his voice.

"I wanted to apologize," Daniel said. "For everything that happened… and for leaving without trying to make things right."

"Sorry won't fix anything, Daniel," Emmet spat. "Maybe it would have before you left, but it's been over a year. You left, and there was no word from you for over a year. No apology, no 'I was an idiot,' no olive branch. Not even a goodbye!"

"I know, but Emmet… I was ashamed of what I did. I need help, and I don't know where else to turn-"

"Oh, so that's why you're calling. You need help. Let me guess: you chased your new friends away, too?"

"Emmet, you know that's not what I meant," Daniel said, his voice thick with tears. Why couldn't he just blurt out the truth? Why was everything he said coming out wrong?

"No, I don't. The Daniel I know never would have done what he did. I don't even know who you are anymore."

"Emmet-"

"Don't call me or any of us ever again."

A loud beep sounded as Emmet hung up.

Daniel sighed and stared at the piece of paper in his lap, the one he'd found stuffed into his backpack.

 _Meet me at the clearing half a mile from the Old Quarry at noon tomorrow. Come alone, and don't even think about telling your family or those superpowered friends of yours. We wouldn't want them to get… damaged, now would we? -The Shroud_

The only other people who knew about the Shroud were the Supers, and none of them were cruel or angry enough to pull a prank like this. No. This was the real deal.

Daniel had found a loophole. He couldn't tell the Supers or his family, but Herman hadn't mentioned any other friends Daniel might have. Alas, the only ones that would help him, his friends from Philadelphia, were still angry at him for what happened the previous year.

 _Twelve year old Daniel sat on one of the benches, laughing with his friends, Alena, Brad, Kyle, Sammy, Lucy, Lily, Emily, Emmet, and Elsie. Despite it being over a year earlier, Daniel remembered that time clear as day._

 _It was Alena's birthday, June 17th, and the group had gathered in their 'headquarters', which was Elsie's playhouse (which they were getting too big for but didn't care). They'd all been at a birthday party, so they were in their dirtiest pair of clothes: tattered T-shirts and faded jeans with muddy sneakers._

 _Alena had dark curly hair that was done up in a ponytail and her cheerful blue eyes sparkled in the summer sun that baked through the windows. She wore an old purple shirt that hung off of her frame with old jeans that were a few inches too short. Her old white and blue running shoes were slightly small on her growing feet but not overly so. She was Daniel's age._

 _Brad and Kyle were best friends and reminded him of a nicer version of Clay and a replica (in terms of personality) of Simon. They both had brown hair, although Kyle's was a darker shade. Brad's eyes were a dark ocean blue and Kyle's were chocolate brown. They both wore jeans with tears and scratches and Brad's shirt was blue while Kyle's was orange. They were both fourteen at the time._

 _Sammy was a few inches taller than Daniel with blonde, straight as a board hair, and blue eyes behind the thick lenses of his glasses (although he usually wore contacts). He had on a white shirt that was streaked with dirt and old jean shorts, and he was a few months older than Daniel._

 _Lucy and Lily were red haired twins with clear blue eyes and wore identical clothing. A patched and worn pink dress flowed around their knees, and they wore their gym class tennis shoes. They were both fourteen._

 _Emily was dark skinned with dark brown hair and eyes that seemed to go on forever, like a tunnel. She wore a green shirt, jean shorts, and black and orange tennis shoes. She was smiling happily with Emmet punching her playfully. She was fifteen at the time and would be turning sixteen in a few months._

 _Emmet was her brother with that same dark skin, brown eyes, and smile. He wore black rimmed glasses and his black hair was cut short. He was shoving Emily in a playful, joking manner. He was sixteen then and is now seventeen._

 _Six year old Elsie was different than the rest. She was quiet and shy with light brown curls tamed into a side ponytail. Her green eyes were secluded and down cast. Emily and Emmet had 'adopted' her as their little sister and took care of her, just like they'd done with Daniel several years prior._

 _"So, how's Mika, Daaaaniel?" Brad teased. Daniel felt his temper rising; Mika was a sensitive topic for him._

 _"She's fine," Daniel said, his voice strained._

 _"Have you asked her out yet?"_

 _"I tried."_

 _"Ahh, did she shut you down?" Kyle joked with a laugh._

 _"Maybe," Daniel murmured._

 _"It's her loss, Daniel," Alena said, placing a hand on his shoulder. The boy shook it off._

 _"No, it's mine. I mean she's really cute and smart and I really liked her."_

 _"But, Daniel, you're better than her," Emmet tried to convince him._

 _"No, I'm not, Emmet."_

 _"Yes, you are, Daniel," Alena began._

 _"No, I'm not, Alena!" The hot tempered, sensitive boy stood on his feet. "She turned me down because I'm not better than her. And you can shut up because the same thing happened to you last month, Alena Arizona Atkins!"_

 _"Oh, yeah! We're just trying to help, Daniel. We tried to convince you that she was no good, but you didn't listen and that was your fault!"_

 _"Shut up, Alena! We tried to convince you not to trust your dad when he came crawling back to you and your mom, but you did and got your heart broken all over again!" Daniel screamed. Everyone gasped and before Daniel knew it, a hand made contact with his face._

 _"You take that back, Daniel Corrigan!" Emily shouted, pointed an accusing finger at him. Alena was crying now and guilt tied up in his stomach, but the twelve year old couldn't face what he'd done to his best friend. His footsteps pounded the earth and he wouldn't slow down as he raced back towards the home of his parents._

 _"Don't bother coming back!" Emmet yelled from the doorway of the playhouse._

Daniel had never regretted anything more. He'd gotten angry over a girl.

Sure, he'd never told them what she'd actually done. How she'd insulted him, spread horrible rumors about him, and gotten her guy friends to beat him up almost daily. They probably would've been more understanding if he told them that her rejection was just the beginning of severe bullying that left Daniel depressed, angry, and even suicidal. That was part of the reason his family had moved, along with his Gram's illness.

Still, he could never bring himself to tell them, and then, he'd ruined one of the best things he'd ever had- friends that were more like family.

Daniel read Herman's note one last time.

Looks like he'd have to do this on his own…

* * *

Daniel stepped out of the woods and into the clearing to find Herman and two other guys standing in front of him.

"You came," Herman said, not sounding surprised.

Before Daniel could speak or even react, one of Herman's companions was standing behind him with his forearm pressed against Daniel's throat and a gun pointed at the side of Daniel's head. Daniel's breath hitched. He should've expected something like this, but that didn't make it any less terrifying.

"No one can hear you out here, kid, and if you make one wrong move, you'll never see another day," Herman said. "There's really no point in fighting. Walk."

With the man still restraining him from behind, Daniel struggled to follow Herman into the woods.

They walked for around ten minutes before arriving at an area of land with smooth stone covering the earth and a small plane sitting in the center.

Seeing Daniel's surprised expression, Herman laughed.

"Daniel, I'm rich and have been studying Supers for decades, including those that fly. You really shouldn't be shocked that I have a plane."

Daniel was shoved onto the plane and into the back, where he was tied to a chair with tendrils of shadow wrapped around his wrists, ankles, and midsection.

"I managed to hold onto enough of my power to control shadows, although I did lose most of my other powers, like flying," Herman informed him. "Oh, and by the way, the more you struggle, the tighter these bonds become."

Herman traced his finger over Daniel's throat, and Daniel inhaled, sharply, as he felt a tendril of shadow wrap around his neck.

"If I were you, I'd sit as still as possible," Herman whispered before leaving the room and entering the cockpit.

As the plane rose above the ground, Daniel felt a buzz in his pocket.

His phone! Herman hadn't taken it. He probably thought that Daniel wouldn't be able to reach it in his position.

Daniel shifted and twisted his wrist, wincing as the bonds tightened, but Daniel didn't stop fighting against them until he managed to tap the Answer button on the call.

A muffled voice sounded from his jeans pocket.

Emily.

Daniel shushed her, and before Emily could yell at him, Herman reentered the room.

"What are you going to do to me?" Daniel demanded.

"What I should have done a long time ago," Herman muttered. "We're taking you far away from Noble's Green. If you agree to behave, Lawrence, the man that restrained you on the way here, has a sister that needs some extra help around the house and would be more than happy to take you in, provided you obey her and never reveal your true identity to anyone. If you don't agree to behave and try to escape… well, let's just say you'll never see the light of day again, kiddo."

Emily's muffled voice sounded, and Daniel froze as Herman frowned and reached into Daniel's pocket, pulling out the phone.

"Daniel!" Emily cried.

"Emily, help! Please!" Daniel begged as Herman hung up and pocketed the phone.

"That was a bad thing to do, Daniel," Herman sneered. "Hector, Lawrence."

The two men entered the room. Daniel had thought they were flying the plane, but apparently, there was at least one other person on the plane.

Herman smirked and entered the cockpit.

Lawrence raised his fist, and Hector held a cigarette over the skin of Daniel's arm before each of them struck Daniel with their choice of weapon at the same time.

For several minutes, all Daniel knew was agony and a feeling of hopelessness.

He was alone with no escape.

He desperately wanted to say goodbye, to make things right somehow, but it looked like he'd never get the chance.

* * *

"Have you tracked him yet?" Alena demanded, leaping over the couch to sit beside Sammy.

"Almost… there he is!" Sammy shouted. "He's… he's about two miles north of Noble's Green, but he's above the ground. He must be in a plane or a helicopter or something."

"Sammy, doesn't your dad have one of those flying contraptions? A cross between a helicopter, a plane, and something else. It looks kind of like a box with a tail?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, but it's a prototype. It's never been more than a few hundred feet above the ground! Daniel's probably at least a thousand feet above the ground. No one's ever flown it that high," Sammy informed them.

"Well, now would be a good time to rest it," Emmet pointed out.

"Do any of us even know how to fly?" Alena asked.

"Brad and Kyle do. They learned how to fly a helicopter. This isn't that different," Emmet told them. "Daniel might be running out of time. We have to go now."

Sammy picked up his phone, where Daniel's location was displayed in the form of a green dot.

"Let's go save our friend!" Sammy exclaimed.

* * *

Daniel groaned in pain as his chin rested against his chest; he didn't have the energy to lift his head.

His left eye was swollen and black, and his cheeks were basically two huge bruises. Two trails of red dripped out of his nose, and blood poured from his split lip. Every part of his body ached, especially his arms, shoulders, and upper chest, where Hector had burned him with lighters and cigarettes. He was pretty sure a few of his ribs were bruised, maybe even cracked, and he might have a slight concussion. Daniel was just thankful they hadn't broken any bones.

Footsteps entered the room, and a hand jerked Daniel's head up by his chin.

"Do you know these people?" Herman demanded, showing him a picture of what appeared to be a huge flying box with a tail.

Daniel examined the people inside and managed a tiny smile, wincing when it made his split lip flare up in pain.

"Emmet," he whispered, recognizing the dark skinned boy staring out the window with his colorful, neon clothes.

Herman slugged Daniel across the face, and Daniel cried out in pain as Herman stormed back into the cockpit.

Even the pain couldn't keep the smile off of Daniel's face.

His friends had come for him.

* * *

"There they are!" Sammy exclaimed upon seeing a small plane ahead of them, exactly where his tracker app said Daniel's location was.

"Alena, you have the best aim. Take this claw thing and hook it onto the side of the plane. Brad, stop flying and just… hover," Emmet ordered, failing to find a better word.

Brad halted the flying contraption, and Alena used one of Sammy's dad's gadgets (he was an inventor if you couldn't tell) to fire the claw object through the air, a black wire trailing behind it. The claw dug into the plane's side, effectively stopping it. Her and her friends held the wire while Emmet darted out onto the 'tail' of the flying contraption (a flat platform was what it was, but it looked like a tail, so everyone called it that).

The side door on the plane opened right beside the claw, and a man tried to tug the claw off of the plane.

Alena threw a softball at him, and it smacked in the forehead, causing him to stumble backwards.

Inside the plane, Daniel managed to wiggle an arm out of his restraints (Herman's powers required concentration, and with Daniel's old friends distracting him, he wasn't getting much of that), and he used his free hand to rip off the rest of the restrains (except for the one around his neck, which would take time to get off, and since he didn't have time, he decided to wait until he was safe to fight with it).

Daniel found Lawrence and Hector on the ground nearby, having both been pelted with softballs, and he stood at the open door of the plane, staring at the wire that connected the two aircrafts.

His friends were standing on the platform of their own aircraft, and Daniel nearly threw up at seeing the several hundred foot drop to the ground.

"Daniel!" Emmet shouted. "You have to jump!"

"Are you crazy?" Daniel yelled. "I don't know if you've noticed or not, but I can't fly!"

"I'll catch you!" Emmet promised.

"You said you would never help me! You said you would never forgive me!" Daniel pointed out. "How can I trust you after that?"

"I made a mistake!" Emmet cried. "Daniel, we were all mad, but you're still our friend, our brother, and we love you. We can't lose you!"

Daniel's expression still displayed his apprehension and his skepticism.

"Daniel, you need to jump!" Emmet said. "I will catch you, and I will never let you go again!" (probably my favorite quote from Despicable Me)

Daniel glanced back at Lawrence and Hector, who had beat him and burned him until Daniel was in too much pain to move. He thought about Herman, who had plans to kill him or leave him in the captivity of a stranger.

Daniel took a leap of faith. Literally.

Daniel jumped…

And was immediately yanked backwards and screamed as a gun was pressed against his temple.

"No!" Emmet screamed.

Daniel acted on instinct, elbowing Herman in the face, and the gun went off inches from Daniel's nose. The loud crack of the gunshot caused Daniel to jump in surprise, and Herman, seeing Daniel's temporary lack of balance, shoved the boy out of the door.

Daniel shrieked in terror, and he vaguely heard Emmet yelling his name. Daniel barely managed to wrap his fingers around the black wire, and he dangled from the thin material.

"Hang on, Daniel! I'm coming!" Emmet yelled, and the teenager wrapped his hands around the wire and stepped off of the platform so that he was dangling from the wire as well.

Emmet began inching along the wire while Daniel scrambled to grip the wire to the best of his ability, considering his hands were drenched in sweat.

Emmet had almost reached Daniel when the young detective heard a familiar chuckle, and he turned his head (making the shadow tendril around his throat tighten, painfully, and make it harder to breath) to see Herman holding a pocket knife.

"Herman, please!" Daniel cried. "Do whatever you want with me. Just don't do this to Emmet, too! Please!"

"Daniel, no!" Emmet yelled, but it wouldn't have mattered either way because Herman didn't listen to Daniel anyway.

The sharp snip of the wire being cut seemed to thunder through the air, quickly followed by Daniel's scream as he fell.

Daniel closed his eyes, not wanting to see the ground getting closer and closer, and when he least expected it, he felt arms wrap around him, and he stopped falling.

Daniel opened his eyes, and he saw Emmet gripping the wire with one hand and holding Daniel with the other. The end of the wire that had been cut dangled a few feet below them and the intact side remained in the grips of their friends.

Daniel started crying with relief, and he buried his face in the shirt of the boy he thought of as a big brother.

"Don't worry," Emmet whispered. "I've got you."

Their friends pulled them to safety, and the exhausted children sat in the back of the flying contraption while Brad and Kyle flew them towards a safe landing spot.

Daniel exhaled, heavily, and he suddenly wheezed as the tendril of shadow around his throat tightened.

"Daniel, what is that?" Alena asked, tilting his head up to take a closer look at the shadow. The movement of his neck caused the shadow to tighten even more, and Daniel's oxygen supply was completely cut off.

"It's choking him!" Emmet yelled, and Daniel wheezed loudly as Sammy picked up a pair of scissors and carefully wedged the blade between Daniel's skin and the shadow. It took a couple of tries, but he finally managed to cut through the thick shadow.

Daniel rubbed his bruised throat.

"Guys, I'm sorry for what happened last year and for not apologizing sooner," Daniel said.

"It's forgiven," Alena assured him. "What I want to know is why that old guy wanted to kill you."

Daniel sighed. "Well, it's a very long story."

"We have time," Sammy told him.

"After all," Emmet added, wrapping an arm around Daniel's shoulders. "We're not going anywhere any time soon. I promise…"

* * *

 _I give credit to Despicable Me for this idea!_

 _Thanks for reading! Hope you liked the OCs. I don't write OCs very often, but I'm kind of testing the waters with these characters. When I first created them, they were just characters I threw together to build a background story for Daniel, and I discovered that I actually liked the characters and decided to write some stories about them._

 _Bye, readers! Please leave a review!_


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